Cathedrals in China thronged for Easter

April 7, 1980

By WITH ANALYSIS FROM MONITOR CORRESPONDENTS AROUND THE WORLD

EDITED BY DEBRA K. PIOT

Peking

Easter Sunday mass in Peking and Shanghai cathedrals drew the biggest Christian congregations since the Cultural Revolution of the mid-1960s, when religious activities were banned. More than 2,000 people attended mass at Peking Cathedral. Foreign diplomats and businessmen were only a small minority of the worshippers, unlike earlier years. Easter services were also held in Canton and Fuzhou (Foochow).

The Vatican regards the Chinese church, which broke with Rome in the 1950s to survive under Communist rule, as under the control of the Chinese government rather than the Holy See. However, Franz Cardinal Konig of Vienna, who visited China in March, said the normalization of links between Peking and Rome was a distinct possibility.

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